Outdoor Research Ion at REI Outlet

[Scott White]

I just noticed the OR Ion pullover windshirt (3.5 oz) for sale at reioutlet.com for $50.

[frank martin]

20% off one outlet item with code

outlet27

[Richard Nelridge]

Hi Scott and Frank,

Thanks for the heads up. I need to lose some weight but, I just ordered one in large, took advantage of the coupon code and my REI Membership Refund so it was a very very good price. Just hope it fits or will once I lose some of the weight as I try to return to my "proper weight". Also, hope that it works well without the reported problems noted with the latest Marmot Ion.

Rich

[Richard Nelridge]

My OR Ion arrived today from REI. Great service as usual. Weighs just about right at spec. My scale measures to the nearest .2 oz and the OR Ion weighed in at 3.6 oz; the spec. is 3.5 oz so it may well be 3.5 oz. Glad I ordered the L. OR indicates that a L is for 43.5" – 45". Any smaller and I would have problems layering under the jacket. I was able to get my Feathered Friends Hyperion Down jacket under it. The OR Ion has nice fit and hood. I will have to run it through its paces.

Rich

[Steve .]

Scott, thanks for the heads up on the jacket. And Frank, thanks for the code.

I was thinking about getting the Liberty Ridge Shell Kit from Thru-Hiker.

But this way I have a jacket for the same price and I don't have to sew it :)

– Steve

[Randy K]

Richard,
How does the breathability seem on your Ion? I saw this and thought of ordering it, but worry about the reviews of the Ion I saw recently. It seems that the material went from "wonderfully breathable to "is it silnylon" on the most recent reviews, particularly on the ones from Campmor.
I'd like to know your take on this.
thanks,
roosterk

[Richard Nelridge]

Hi Randall,

I haven't had a chance to try the jacket for breathability. It just arrived earlier today and it was a high of about 23 degrees F. I may try a walk tomorrow, but I am not sure how much of a sweat I will build up in the cold.

The problem that you have been reading about is the Marmot Ion which is a different jacket than the Outdoor Research Ion jacket. The Outdoor Research Ion is made of a thin 15 X 40d ripstop nylon with a water resistant/breathable coating. It is not made of Pertex and whatever the Marmot Ion (which is supposed to be Pertex) made of.

You can feel the coating on the Jacket, but it does not appear to be Silnylon. It should breath fairly well, but I can not say that it will breath as well as something like Pertex Quantum, Microlite or equivalent.

Using a breath test, the Jacket does appear to be quite wind resistant, but at this point, again I can not say how much wind will pass through the material.

[Steve .]

Perhaps the coating could be washed out to enhance breathability at the expense of water resistance.

I know Ryan Jordan did something similar with his Montane jacket, different material though.

[Randy K]

Duh! Thanks for correcting my reading…or is it comprehension problem. I just saw Ion, and something in my tiny little brain clicked. Unfortunately it wasn't a click, it was a misfire. Oh well, if that's the worst mistake I make all week, I'll be okay.
thanks for the correction,
roosterk

[Michael Coulter]

I just ordered the OR Ion from REI-outlet, too. I had ordered the Marmot Ion from Campmor and the complaints about its breathe-ability were right on. It's a vapor barrier. My OR Ion arrives next week so we'll see how it does, but for $39.99, it's worth a shot.

[Richard Nelridge]

I went out this afternoon to test the Outdoor Research Ion. I walked about 3 1/2 miles at about sea level (fairly flat) in about 1 hour and 20 minutes without any pack or equipment. I was walking along streets and some of the walk was about 50 to 100 feet from the Lehigh River and Lehigh Canal in Eastern Pennsylvania. The temperature in the shade was about 27 degrees F and in the sun it was perhaps 35 degrees F. There was little wind on the way out, but coming back there were gusts of wind at about 5 to 10 mph.

I wore the following clothing:

Outdoor Research Windstopper Peruvian Hat
Eastern Mountain Sports Liner Gloves
Eastern Mountain Sports N2S Windstopper Gloves
Performance Bicycle Thermax Shirt (about a mid weight thermal)as Base layer
Rab Vapour Rise Long Sleeve Top (Pertex Equilibrium outer)
Outdoor Research Ion
Cotton briefs
LL Bean Cotton Jeans
Thin Nylon Socks
Rockport Walking Shoes

My head, feet, legs, and upper body stayed warm. I have poor circulation in my hands and I did start to feel a little cold on the finger tips and around my wrists. I did not feel any wind passing through any of my clothing.

I probably was wearing too much clothing on my torso, but that was part of my intent. When I returned home I found that my hat was slightly damp on the inside and so were my socks. I found that my Base layer was slightly damp from perspiration. So was the inner fleece layer of the Rab Vapour Rise Top. There was some moisture on the outer Pertex Equilibrium of the Rab Top and the outer fabric of the back in particular was cold to the touch. The Outdoor Research Ion had a reasonable amount of perspiration or condensation on the inside of the jacket.

I suspect that the Outdoor Research Ion added too much added insulation for my torso under the condions (particularly with the base layer). It would have been interesting to have run a similar test with the Rab Vapour Rise Top as the outer layer to see if the outer fabric would have been moist or as damp. As to the Outdoor Research Jacket, as I mentioned, I may have been wearing too much clothing on my torso. I am concluding that under these conditions that the jacket was not breathable enough for the vapor/perspiration to pass through the fabric or the temperature gradient caused the vapor to condense on the inside of the Outdoor Resarch Ion. I suspect the later was certainly contributing considering the outer surface of the Equilibrium fabric of the Rab Vapour Rise Top was as cold to the touch.

Rich

[Steve .]

Doesn't sound very promising. Still I wonder if breathability would improve by washing the DWR out.

Richard did you try a breath test with the fabric?

[Steve .]

Here's a review of the OR Ion. Bottom of the page…

[Richard Nelridge]

Hi Steve,

I had tried to breath through the Fabric of the OR Ion. I was unable to get much or any air to pass through the fabric. Thanks for reference to the review of the jacket. I had read that already.

I know that my perspiration/moisture was being moved through my base layer as well as through the Rab Vapour Rise fleece lining and through the Pertex Equilibrium outer shell. I am still of the opinion, and I may be incorrect that a lot of the moisture found on the inside of the OR Ion jacket was as a result of the temperature gradient that resulted in vapor condensing on the inside. We know this can happen in sleeping bags as an example. However, if there is an insufficient amount of body heat reaching the inner surface of the OR Ion jacket you can not pump the moisture through the fabric. I will have to run additional tests however.

Rich

[Dondo .]

more reviews of the OR Ion
Several specifically mention good breathability. I just received one this evening and will test in the next few days. My size medium weighs 3.5 oz.

[Dondo .]

I had a chance to try out the Ion Sunday morning on a training hike in the local foothills. Unfortunately, the day heated up quickly and I was only able to test the windshirt for an hour before packing it away. The test conditions refer only to that hour.

Temps were mid-thirties to mid-forties with a steady cool breeze. I was wearing a thin Golite C-thru base layer under the Ion and carrying a Jam pack with 15 lbs. of gear. For part of the test I was wearing a one ounce skull cap. Later I switched to a sun hat. The Ion was worn in configurations varying from fully zipped up with the hood closed around my face to fully zipped down with no hood. My heart rate ranged from 120 to 140 BPM.

During the test I checked frequently inside the jacket and could detect no condensation. So for me, at least, the Ion is adequately breathable.

Based on the fabric, fit, features , and quality of construction, the OR Ion easily displaces the Montane Featherlite smock that has long had a place in my kit. The 14" no-snag zip and brimmed, adjustable hood more than make up for the additional 0.3 oz.

I just noticed that one of the reviewers I linked to above is our own BPL member, Mary Simpson, who gives the Ion five out of five stars based on a hike in the Grand Canyon that was partly off trail.

For $40 at REI-outlet.com, the OR Ion is probably one the the best values out there right now.

[Steve .]

Thanks for the update Dondo. Sounds like a winner.

[Richard Nelridge]

I ran a second test on Saturday for about 2 1/2 miles similar to what I had done for the original test. This time I chose to test the same clothing as the previous tests this time without the Outdoor Research Ion. This time the temperatures were a bit colder with the temperature about 25 degrees F with much less sun and a bit more wind with gusts to about 15mph. The Wind chill brought the temperature to an equivalent of about 15 degrees F.

I may have felt a little of the wind blow through the clothing this time and I will admit I started to feel a little cold on my arms and part of my torso. Here was a case where I would have been a little happier with another layer such as the Outdoor Research Ion or another outer layer. My hands also were a little colder than the first walk, however, I had sealed the wrists better and they were not as cold.

When I checked the clothing after returning basically everything seemed to be fairly dry. I am still of the opinion that the first test with the moisture on the inside of the Outdoor Research Ion had do much more with condensation from the temperature gradient. Therefore I was unable to pump the moisture throught the jacket fabric without added body warmth.

I will still have to do additional tests on this, but if Dondo is correct we may have a winner with this jacket particularly for the clearance price and the REI code.

Rich

[Dondo .]

Just a quick update on this. I've a chance to do two more training hikes in conditions similar to those I've described above. Again no condensation inside. Based on the performance and features for the weight, I'm very comfortable giving the OR Ion an enthusiastic thumbs up. Throw a Buff into the slash pocket and you're ready for a wide range of weather conditions.

[Steve .]

Thanks for the update Dondo. I received my Ion over the weekend. Unfortunately it was a touch too small so I returned it. Should be getting the next size up sometime next week.

Overall I really liked the jacket. The Wasabi color is not obnoxious (by my standards) and the hood fit well. At first I had a problem finding the side adjustments for the hood but it shouldn't be a problem once a person gets use to it.

[Richard Nelridge]

Hi Steve,

I opted for the midnight, I prefer most of my clothing in the blues or the forest greens as much as possible. By the way, if you did not notice, there is an adjustment for the hood on the the back of the outside of the neck of the Ion as well as to the left and right on either side of the front of the hood. Hope the replacement is the right size and you enjoy it.

This really looks like a great buy on clearance especially with the code and my REI membership refund. :-)

Rich

[Alan Burnce]

My understanding was that this jacket has a very deep 3/4 zip, but the REI outlet model seems to have a much shallower half zip? Can any of you folks who purchased it recently confirm this?

[Dondo .]

Mine has a 14" zip.

There's an additional 13" of fabric down to the hem.

[Anonymous]

I purchased an Ion back in December about the time I joined this website but before I had ever heard of, “pertex quantum.” The jacket was given a pretty good work-out on a trip in January in some cold windy weather. It kept the wind out but, unfortunately for me, it kept the moisture inside. It was drenched with moisture every time I took it off. On the hike out on the last day hiking uphill for a distance of 4 miles I wore my Rainshield jacket rather than the Ion. It performed much better than the Ion and I am sorry now I purchased the Ion. Again, I am now in shopping for a lightweight wind shell but this time one made out of this “pertex quantum” that I only recently learned of on this website. It seems, by the way, not be widely sold here in the U.S. except as a sleeping bag shell. I have searched ebay but the jackets I have found involve shipping from the U.K.

[Dondo .]

John, are you referring to the Marmot Ion from Campmor or the Outdoor Research Ion from REI-outlet?

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